It’s summer, the hottest time of year, and everywhere you turn you’re hearing about the importance of drinking enough water and fluids.

But how much should we be drinking? The daily water intake recommendations by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Sciences are 13 cups (3.7 liters or about 125 ounces)daily for men, and 10 cups (2.7 liters or about 91 ounces) for women. These are very general though, as a single recommendation is impossible. A lot depends on factors like these:

Weight. If you weight more, you usually need to drink more, but it’s not a linear progression. That is, a 200-lb. person doesn’t need twice the fluid of a 100-lb. person. The smaller person is more vulnerable to dehydration and overheating because they have a high “surface-to-volume ratio,” the same reason a small child is more vulnerable to overheating.

Gender. Men tend to need more fluid than women. They tend to weigh more but also have more muscle, which is metabolically active and requires more water to stay hydrated and function properly.

Activity level. But the more active you are in any season, the more you sweat and thus need to rehydrate.

It doesn’t all have to be water and the IOM is clear that all beverages , including coffee, tea, milk, and even juice, so getting those 9 to 13 cups is easier than you think. Liquids aren’t the only place to get water. You can easily amp up your take from food if you include plenty of high-water fruits and veggies, and there are real advantages to doing this:

Flavor! Chilled summer fruits and vegetables are taste powerhouses.

Rehydration nutrition: high-water fruits and veggies are loaded with hydrating nutrients like potassium and magnesium. Count milk in here, too.

Many are more than 90% water, so they really contribute to your total fluid intake for the day. Plus, they do what a glass of water simply can’t: help you get enough fruits and vegetables for a healthy diet.

Personal fave: watermelon. I love this stuff. I have loved watermelon since I was a kid and waited for it to come into season so I could gorge myself on it. Even now, when I come home on a steamy, sweltering day there is absolutely nothing better to cool me down and get my taste buds dancing than a huge chunk of ice-cold watermelon. I’m hardcore, too. I cut off only the outer skin because I love the white part of the rind as well. It’s not as sweet but that’s OK and it’s still good, kind of like a semi-sweet cucumber.

MORE: Can you be a health-freak AND a smoker? Get my take in this New York Post article here.

A solid clinical study by a well-respected team, just published in the July issue of Obesity Science and Practice, showed that eating lean beef, at least four times per week, produced weight loss just as effectively as a non-beef diet. Even better: there was no negative impact on heart health indicators, like total cholesterol, LDL “bad” cholesterol, or blood pressure.

This research, called the Beef W.I.S.E. Study (Weight Improvement, Satisfaction, Energy) followed 99 overweight and obese adults for 16 weeks. Everyone did moderate-intensity exercise regularly and ate a higher protein diet, either with beef or without beef. The beef eating dieters ate beef about 4 times per week, not every day, and they ate plenty of other lean protein foods, like nonfat Greek yogurt, fish, chicken breast, etc. Indeed, some type of lean protein happened at each meal and snack.

The beef-eaters lose just as much weight, preserved just as much lean muscle mass as the non-beef group. “A key finding of this study is that 90 to 95 percent of the weight lost came from fat, not muscle,” said Dr. Drew Sayer, PhD, a co-author of the study. “This shows that lean beef doesn’t have to be restricted in a higher-protein diet and is just as effective as other protein choices in supporting healthy weight loss and leaner bodies.”

And I’d bet they also liked their diet more, because they didn’t have to omit food they liked. Anytime you have to omit a food on a diet, it can become the one food you want. According to the Consumer Beef Index, a survey of attitudes about beef, 3 out of 4 people DO like beef as a favorite or a top meal choice. The dieters in the Beef WISE didn’t eat beef daily, but about five times weekly. No deprivation there.

That’s exactly why I like this study: no feelings of deprivation. To be fair, there was no particular advantage to including lean beef, but the W.I.S.E. factors of satisfaction and energy are key to EVERY successful diet, and to maintaining both the lost weight and a healthful eating style. Whether you’re trying to lose weight or keep it off, YOUR eating style should help you feel energized and satisfied. The researchers will be following these dieters longer term and satisfaction data is also being analyzed, but the high retention rate suggests the participants liked whichever diet they were eating.

These beef-eaters ate lean beef, but that’s pretty easy. There are 29 cuts of beef that qualify as lean, meaning they have less than 10 grams of fat per serving and less than 4 ½ grams of saturated fat per 3-oz. cooked serving. Check out this chart listing 19 popular lean cuts of beef.

CutToTheChase: If you like lean beef, it’s be W.I.S.E. to include it while losing weight. It’s produces the same benefits as a non-beef diet. Liking your diet is key to staying one it! Try this lean beef recipe for Grilled Southwestern Steak with Colorful Vegetables (pictured at top). It’s quick, delicious, and loaded with lean protein.

Note: this study was funded partially by the Beef Checkoff, but also by many additional federal agencies, like the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. It was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov. It’s sound science and highly credible. It’s sound science and highly credible. It’s one of the reasons I partnered with the Beef Checkoff program, established by the federal government in 1985. Participation by beef producers is mandatory.

http://cuttothechasenutrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/logo10.png00Keith-Thomas Ayoobhttp://cuttothechasenutrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/logo10.pngKeith-Thomas Ayoob2017-07-13 15:38:232017-07-13 15:59:16BEEF EARNS ITS PLACE AT THE WEIGHT LOSS TABLE

Over half say this confusion gives them doubts about their food choices (maybe agita, too?)

24 out of 25 people do seek out health benefits form the foods they choose, but less than half of those people could identify even one food or nutrient linked to those benefits!

Friends & Family: The New “Nutritionists”

More than 3 in 4 consumers actually rely on the people closest to them for at least some of their nutrition advice. They’re skeptical about it, though. About 7 in 10 don’t exactly have high trust in these folks for nutrition and food safety info. Friends and family mean well and don’t speak “nutrition-ese”, so they’re easy to listen to. Things change however, according to Tony Flood, senior director of food safety at IFIC, who noted, “For concerns such as foodborne illness and chemicals in food, news articles tend to be the top source to influence consumer opinion.”

Smart, because the “hallway advice” from friend and family, has a downside: inaccurate or incomplete information fuels food and nutrition myths. No one wants to make food decisions and purchases based on flawed assumptions. Here’s what the IFIC survey had to say about that:

If a food costs $2, you are more likely to think it’s healthier than an IDENTICAL food that costs 99 cents.

You’re four times as likely to think fresh food is healthier than frozen

You’re five times as likely to think fresh is healthier than canned

Let’s at least clear some confusion about the above points:

Higher price – for the exact same item – is no indication of healthfulness.

Frozen can actually be higher in nutrients. Nowadays, frozen produce is quick frozen right on the field as it’s harvested. That helps it retain nutrients that can be lost during the time it takes for the fresh version to go from farm to store, to your refrigerator – where you may wait a few days to prepare and eat it.

Canned foods vs. fresh? It depends. Canned garbanzo and kidney beans? Super nutritious. I always keep them around. Canned tomato paste is just condensed, concentrated tomatoes, and cooking tomatoes makes more of the antioxidant lycopene available. Two thumbs up. Canned fruit with lots of syrup? Fresh or frozen fruit is a better choice most of the time, and it does have more fiber. Of course, context is everything: a canned peach with some vanilla Greek yogurt will have way fewer calories and more protein than a slice of cheesecake.

Let’s Clear the Air

As a clinician of over 30 years, I try every which way to make certain that a patient in my office leaves with clarity, not confusion. Why? Because a confident patient/consumer is motivated to make positive changes! A confused consumer says, “no” and stays put. Exactly what I don’t want. Eating is more than just nutrition. It’s about enjoyment. If you’re confused or conflicted, where’s the fun?

Resolving conflict

Consumers said they trusted health professionals, especially registered dietitian/nutritionists (RDN), the most, even if they didn’t go to them as often as other sources. It might be worth it to have a chat with an RDN. It’ll help stop your confusion about food and get you more confident about the choices you make. As my colleague Carolyn O’Neil says, “The more you know, the more you can eat.”

Another way to clear the confusion? Sign up for my newsletter. That’s an easy, positive change right there.

As a kid I waited impatiently for summer. The main reason? The huge variety of fruits. People think I love fruit because I’m a registered dietitian/nutritionist, but I’ve always been this way. As a kid,

I remember going berry-picking near the weekend place we had as a kid, in this secluded canyon an hour south of San Francisco. The blackberries were so sweet in the warm sun that I’d happily get scratched by the bush’s thorns just to reach the branches with the biggest berries. About half of what I picked didn’t make it home — I ate ‘em on the spot. Yes, I should have washed them and no, I didn’t. They were wild, but had plenty of dust and dirt. I lived through it.

As an adult, my produce passion has only expanded. I never met a grilled, roasted, or even steamed veggie I didn’t like (unless it was overcooked!)

Less is not more

The diet histories I take on all my patients show one constant: a lack of fruits and vegetables. They’re like most Americans, too, according to the 2015 US Dietary Guidelines. Produce is a powerhouse of nutrients – and taste! There’s just no substitute nutritionally, so why deprive ourselves?.

What’s the barrier to eating more produce? Check these frequent comments from patients:

“They have so many pesticides and organic stuff is too expensive.’

“I buy them but nobody eats them so it’s money down the drain.”

Fresh is too expensive and frozen and canned don’t have any nutrition left in them.”

A 2016 survey that looked at the attitudes of low-income consumers about organic vs. conventionally grown produce. If they’d heard about pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables they were more likely to avoid buying them. They’re definitely misinformed, because their fear is unfounded. Conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables are quite safe to eat. Let’s look at why that’s so.

Pesticides 101: Testing, testing…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires all pesticides to undergo hundreds of health, safety, and environmental tests before they’re approved. They also establish a safe “­reference dose”, or RfD level. To do this, they first establish the maximum amount of the pesticide that, if consumed daily for the rest of one’s life, would cause no harm. They make the RfD is then 1/1000th of that maximum safe dose. That means that even if you got 1000 times the RfD, every day, you’d still be fine.

Then there’s verification. The Pesticide Data Program (PDP) maintains the world’s most thorough database of pesticide residues. It annually tests domestically-grown and imported produce. Over the 20 years of testing that the PDP has done, over 99% of crops have tested below RfD levels. The vast majority of produce has tested ridiculously low, in fact, often 1/10,000th of acceptable levels – which already have a 1000-fold cushion in them.

Reality check

Carolyn O’Neil, registered dietitian, veteran food & nutrition reporter, author of The Slim Down South cookbook, says, “I have absolute confidence that choosing conventionally grown produce is doing only good things for you and your family.” She doesn’t believe we have choose between organic or conventional produce. “Conventionally grown crops are regularly and systemically tested for pesticide residue to ensure that what goes from farm to table is safe to eat. The proper use of pesticides, in both organic and conventionally grown crops, is the expertise of farmers who want to put safest and most nutritious foods on our tables.”

Keep in mind that virtually ALL of the vast research showing huge benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables was done on conventional, not organic, produce. Avoiding fruits and vegetables just because you can’t afford organic is unnecessary and puts you at risk. It’s all good. Buy the produce you can afford and will eat (I’m never without canned garbanzos). Everyone eats more fruit if there are fewer “competing foods” around, like cookies and cake.

Organic or conventional, wash all fresh fruits and veggies. I took a risk as a kid by eating some dirt and dust on those berries without washing them!

Cut-to-the-Chase

Strong safeguards ensure our food supply is the safest you’ll find anywhere. Our fruits and vegetables are healthy even if they didn’t come from our own yard.

I work with kids and families. Their safety and food budgets are important. I eat conventionally grown produce daily, organic if it’s a good buy. Eat the ones you enjoy and eat them every day.

You can’t hear any conversation about food these days without hearing about “processed foods”. Nutrition experts, medical experts, and those who talk about food a lot all seem to be saying the same thing: processed foods are to be avoided or at least minimized to the greatest extent possible.

It’s easy to join the pile-on but as with everything in life, the processed food issue is not black and white. Why?

News flash: ALL FOOD IS PROCESSED

Unless you bite an apple off the tree, it’s probably been processed. Indeed, the act of washing your fruits and vegetables is a form of processing them. Peeling, chopping, drying, and cooking are all ways of “processing” food.

Processed food has a spectrum, and a group or researchers based at the University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil developed a system is called “NOVA” that classifies all foods into four groups. In a nutshell:

Group 1: Unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

o Whole fruits and vegetables, whole or sliced fresh meat and fish,

o dried fruit and nuts

o combinations of foods in this category, like granola if made with no added sugars. It also includes enriched white rice. Fair enough.

Group 2: Processed ingredients

o Iodized salt, vinegar, lard, salted butter, etc.

o Ingredients used in home and restaurant kitchens to prepare “hand-made” dishes.

The system seems based more on politics, philosophy, and ideology than science. Examples:

“Common attributes of the Category 4 ultra-processed products are hyper-palatability, sophisticated and attractive packaging, multi-media and other aggressive marketing to children and adolescents, health claims, high profitability, and branding and ownership by transnational corporations.”

The “freshly made” white bread loaf from the corner bakery is “processed” but the one that’s “pre-packaged” is “ultra-processed” and should be avoided.

Fruit canned in syrup is “processed”, which is OK but you should avoid sweetened yogurt and whole-grain cereal because they’re “ultra-processed”?

The scale of production seems more important than what’s in the food itself. Science doesn’t support this. Large-scale production is the only way you’re going to feed hundreds of millions of people every day. Foods like packaged whole-grain bread and sweetened yogurt, Greek or conventional, can be a terrific part of a very healthful diet.

This tool will probably be idolized but the developers seem to be speaking to an elitist audience that is disconnected from the realities of the people they need to reach.

Avoid the word “avoid”

As a practicing clinician and registered dietitian for over 30 years, whole grain breakfast cereal is a lot more nutritious than candy. These foods should be far apart from each other when speaking about nutrition. It’s also unnecessary to “avoid” any food (unless you’re allergic). Eat less candy and empty-calorie drinks, yes, but I’d like people to eat more whole-grain cereal and yogurt – sweetened or not. These are nutrient-rich foods that are underconsumed. There’s no reason to feel guilty about eating them.

People eat food, not philosophy. After all, it doesn’t’ become “nutrition” until someone eats it. My philosophy? I’d argue that the cell phone — or “personal device” – has done more damage to our eating habits and lifestyle than breakfast cereal and sweetened yogurt.

Cut-To-The-Chase Nutrition’s bottom line:

Nearly all our food is “processed” in some manner. Processing is fine – it’s what makes many foods edible and safe to eat.

There are plenty of healthful, “mass-produced” foods.

Down with demonizing food and making people feel guilty, especially when the science isn’t there.

“Mass production” also brings us standards that ensure the safety and consistency of our food supply. Food is only nutritious if it’s affordable and accessible.

There’s a place for nutrition philosophy, but science, should drive nutrition policy.

If you weren’t “consciously coupled” (apologies to Gwyneth) on Valentine’s Day, it’s easy to feel left out of the happenings. That can cause all sorts of uncomfortable feelings that trigger emotional eating.

And let’s face it, the one relationship we ALL have is with food. And our food relationship, like any other one, can have ups and down. Getting it to function at its best takes some time, attention, and nurturing.

Male or female, anyone can be an emotional eater. No judgements here on the type of food, either. Whether it’s junk food or whole wheat bread, excess is excess and if you’re eating for the wrong reason, you want to check it before your weight, your health, and most of all, your relationship with food, spirals out of control.

Give yourself a break

It’s never been easier to “swallow” your stresses by overeating or binge-eating. Technology has brought us great things, but it’s also enabled all manner of impulsive behaviors and instant gratifications. Rough if you are an emo-eater because you can order up just about anything with a few clicks, and no one even sees you buying it. What makes emo-eating so easy also makes it hard to kick.

No beating yourself up here. Even my dogs would eat until they exploded if there were no barriers (me) in the way.

Make peace with food

All relationships are better when there’s some compromise from both sides. Why should the food relationship be different? If our food could speak to us, consider what it might say:

“Please don’t depend on me to be the only thing that makes you happy.”

“I’m not jealous. Seek other pleasures. It’s OK, I’ll be here when it’s time to eat.”

“If it’s not time to eat, please leave me alone. We need a break from each other sometimes.”

“I’m not just a quick thrill. I have a nurturing side, too, and I wish you’d spend more time with that side of me.”

“I don’t want you to hate or resent me after we meet. I want to have you feeling good about the time we spent together.”

What often prevents us from changing our relationship with food is some fear that we won’t be able to cope any other way. For many emo-eaters food is a “best friend” who’s always there. But enjoying non-food pleasures is absolutely critical for a balanced life. Developing them and giving them equal standing with food takes planning. But what worthwhile project doesn’t take some time and thought? So nurture your relationship with “not-food”, and be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor were your eating habits, so some tolerance is in order.

Some ways to begin re-building your healthy relationship with food:

Leverage the positives in your diet: stock up on your favorite fruits and vegetables – even if they’re not in season. If that keeps you from bingeing on high-calorie food, it’s worth it and don’t apologize. Get back to saving the world when you feel a little more up to it.

Cultivate “non-food” pleasures, including ones you may have forgotten: Go for a bike ride, visit someplace local you’ve wanted to see, take a class or do a hobby, or dance around your house like no one is watching. The process takes you out of a stressful food space and into something that feeds you in a different way.

De-clutter something in your life. No huge projects here, even something as modest as organizing one drawer. It’s cathartic and you feel great afterwards. Ask anyone who has done it.

Have what you crave – but don’t buy more than a single portion. It might be more expensive this way, but if it helps you stick to a single portion, it actually saves you money and definitely saves calories. It also builds a healthy association with indulgent foods.

Reassure yourself: there is NO food you can’t have. The issue is how much and how often, and how to have it in a way that leaves you feeling good after, not just during, the eating.

A National Confectioners Association survey recently revealed that 94% of Americans reported wanting chocolate on Valentine’s Day. I didn’t participate in the study but you can count me among them. I want it every day. I’m health conscious. Read on.

For hundreds of years however, Europeans felt chocolate was heart healthy and even aided the liver and one’s digestion, among other benefits.

Chocolate in this country has traditionally been an indulgence, where the expectation is merely good taste and satisfaction – with some calories and fat.

That’s changing. A lot of research during the past 20 years or so is telling us that chocolate can be heart-healthy, and via a variety of mechanisms.

Science for chocolate nerds

Two components in chocolate seem to be giving the benefits: antioxidants and the fat.

Eating foods rich in antioxidants, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains, has long been associated with numerous measures of health benefits and reduced health risks, including lower risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

Chocolate is rich in a subclass of antioxidants called “flavonoids”. Catechins, epicatechins, and procyanidins are the main flavonoids in chocolate and they’re present in higher concentrations than in most other plant foods, even tea and red wine on a per-serving basis. Dark chocolate is the third largest contributor of antioxidants to the American diet, after fruits and vegetables.

The fat in cocoa is mostly saturated – usually something we advise reducing in the diet. But not all saturated fats are created equally, and the primary one in chocolate is stearic acid, which seems to have more neutral, not harmful, effects.

Here are some of the benefits studies have consistently shown for chocolate:

Lower blood pressure: The reduction isn’t huge, but it seems to lower both the top number (systolic) by about 5 points and the bottom number (diastolic) by about 3 points. Not huge, but better than for most “treat” foods!

Improved markers of cardiovascular health: It seems to reduce LDL-cholesterol (the bad one) and raise HDL-cholesterol (good one) – at least when it replaces butter. It doesn’t top olive oil in this respect, but swapping a pastry for some chocolate makes sense.

Reduced “platelet aggregation”: This is beneficial because it helps prevent plaque build-up in your arteries.

How to do chocolate right

Yes, chocolate can fit into a healthy diet. It might even be a good thing, in the right amount. Here are a few tips if you want to have chocolate regularly:

Go dark. Really dark. The benefits come when the cocoa content is 70% of higher.

Take 1. Figure 1 ounce a day (about 30 grams). It’s only about 160 calories, so it’s lower in calories than most desserts!

Swap right. Use your daily chocolate to replace lower-quality foods. This usually means junk snacks. You’ll find that an ounce of dark chocolate is satisfying.

No chewing allowed! Bite a small piece, notice the crackle of the bar, and let it melt in your mouth. Why rush?

Take a powder. Leverage the flavor of cocoa powder! Hot chocolate, smoothies, on Greek yogurt! Even shake it onto sliced apples or added it to coffee. It’s almost calorie-free. Trader Joe’s and Ghirardelli both have great cocoa powder.

Don’t “go Dutch”. Cocoa labeled as “processed with alkali”, or “Dutched cocoa”, has lost most of the antioxidants. I avoid this kind of chocolate. It’s not harmful, just has no antioxidants.

Chocolate caveat

If you have reflux or heartburn, chocolate can irritate the stomach and stimulate acid production. Chocolate doesn’t have much caffeine, but dark chocolate has more than milk chocolate, and it does have theobromine, which can also get you buzzy if you have it before bedtime. Also, the antioxidant activity can vary, based on origin and handling methods.

Finally, file this under “nice-to-know”: Mondelez, the huge mega candy company, has a goal of 200,000 cocoa farmers participating in its “Cocoa Life” sustainable cocoa farming program, by year 2020. They recently announced that they are nearly halfway there, with participation nearly doubling in the year 2015 alone. Props to Mondelez.

Chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Call it a gift from the heart, and for the heart!

Do you shy away from drinking milk and yogurt because you don’t like the low-fat/fat-free stuff but also avoid cheese because of the saturated fat?

Well, have a slice of cheese and read on. And while you’re at it, scoop some full-fat yogurt on some fruit, too. Your cardiologist probably won’t cringe, either, and may even give you a high-5. That’s because several recent studies, both randomized clinical trials, (considered the “gold standard” of research), and observational studies that look at tens of thousands of people and are less rigorous, suggest that full-fat dairy foods — but not butter — may be better for us than we thought.

Dietary guidelines have traditionally advised us to reduce our consumption of saturated fat, and full-fat dairy foods are a significant source of it. These newer studies are suggesting that saturated fat isn’t all the same, shouldn’t all be under one big umbrella. Dairy fat, in particular, may behave differently than other saturated fats.

Cheese vs. butter

The fat in these two foods have similar levels of saturated and unsaturated fat. Makes sense, as they both contain dairy fat from milk. Butter is simply isolated from the milk, whereas cheese has the fat as well as protein and even a small amount of carbohydrate, depending on how long it was cultured. Since the fats are of similar type, you could also reason that similar amounts of saturated fat from butter and cheese would behave the same way in the body.

That doesn’t seem to be the case, at least not in this study that reviewed randomized controlled trials, — the gold standard of research – to compare the effects of cheese and butter on blood lipids. Here’s what they concluded from the studies they reviewed:

Compared with butter, cheese reduced both LDL-cholesterol (the bad stuff) by 6.5% and HDL-cholesterol (the good stuff) by 3.9%. Note that the more hazardous LDL dropped much more than the desirable HDL.

Just as not all saturated fat is the same, it may be a mistake to see all dairy fat as the same, even though it all has the same origin and composition. Why? Because we’re learning that there’s more to food than just its nutrients. (You may think, “duh” but in the nutrition world, it’s always been just about nutrients!)

In this 2016 synopsis of several symposia that looked at 131 studies, the research did not show any increased risk for cardiovascular disease from the consumption of full-fat dairy foods. Moreover, for weight gain, there was actually an inverse relationship with weight gain and obesity risk, meaning that higher consumption of full-fat dairy foods was associated with less obesity and weight gain.

The thought is that when dairy fat exists in foods, it’s bound to a complex matrix that includes milk proteins (chiefly casein and whey) as well as minerals and even bacterial cultures, in the case of cheese and yogurt. These along with the compounds of digestion, may reduce the absorption of some of the cholesterol and/or saturated fats.

I actually like this type of research because it helps me work with patients who couldn’t care less about the biochemistry of it all, they just want to know how to eat a healthy diet that also tastes good.

Cut-to-the-Chase take-aways:

Overall, good news here about cheese and full-fat dairy foods.

Keep eating the fatty fish and olive oil! But it’s OK to replace butter and fattier cuts of meat with cheese and full-fat dairy.

IF you like fat-free yogurt and you’re used to 1% or fat-free milk, keep at it!

If your diet is short of calcium and vitamin D because you don’t care for low-fat or fat-free diary, and including more full-fat dairy foods would help correct that

Spend wisely: Full-fat dairy foods have more calories than lower-fat versions, so be sure you balance calories elsewhere in your diet.

US News started 2017 with their ratings of popular diets. What stands out? The sheer quantity! They rated 38 – count ‘em – 38 diets, and had a panel rate them on many factors, including health, weight loss, and overall. They also classified them into such categories as best “commercial” diet, most heart-healthy, best diet for diabetics, and on.

What stood out to me? Let’s look at the top 3 diets:

DASH diet: Long-standing winner year after year. It’s a simple concept: lots of fruits and vegetables, low-fat and fat-free dairy every day (some full-fat, too) and cut back on sodium. Developed to lower blood pressure, DASH stands for: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

Mediterranean Diet: Focus is on heart health. Like, DASH, the concepts are simple: lots of fruits and vegetables, not much red meat, plenty of fish and daily olive oil and/or nuts like almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts. Focus here is on olive oil and omega-3 fats. Another annual favorite.

The MIND Diet: This combines some concepts from the top two diets but gets a bit more specific about certain foods to cut risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Specific fruits and vegetables include green leafy veggies and berries, two foods associated with reduced Alzheimer’s risk. Fish at least once a week, and low intakes of fatty meat, butter, and empty-calorie desserts and fried foods.

Why I love the top 3 diets

I love that they’re not really diets, just “eating styles”. There are no absolutes, no rigid “my-way-or-the-highway” rules. Nothing is prohibited forever, but there are specific to include, but enough variety to allow for favorites within each group.

And there’s solid science behind these eating styles. The research even indicates a beneficial trajectory. That is, even if people ate a diet that made some changes, even if not enough to count as a true Mediterranean or DASH diet, but approaching those, they saw reduced risk for developing Alzheimer’s. You can sustain all three of these eating styles and strong research says you’ll be healthier if you do.

Honorable Mention: #4: The Flexitarian Diet

This diet tied with several others for fourth place but I like it. It’s healthful, varied and “mostly vegetarian” but recognizes that the world is round. If you want an occasional burger or taco on this diet, it doesn’t mean you’ve “crossed over to the dark side.” High time.

What about the bottom 3?

Paleo Diet: Despite the popularity, especially among males who want to eat like the hunter-gatherer of 10,000 years ago, this diet ranked last for weight loss, last for fast weight loss, and was considered among the most difficult to follow in modern times. Let’s not forget that 10,000 years ago the life span was short. The average 40-year-old has been dead a while.

The Dukan Diet: This diet offers an “all-you-can-eat” theme – but only of the allowed foods. It’s big on protein. Really big, and carbs and fats are quite limited. As with most high-protein, low-carb diets, you’ll lose a lot of weight in the first week or two, but this one got low ratings for being easy to follow and maintain. Low ratings for healthfulness, too. The maintenance phase has similarities to other diets: moderation, nothing is off limits except large portions and binges. Maybe best to start with that?

The Whole30 Diet: Bottom of the heap and I’d agree. Super-restrictive and there are absolutes. Deviations are not allowed. It only lasts 30 days and is intended so designed to push your body’s re-set button but also to fix dysfunctional relationships with food. Big claims made here and there’s no research behind this diet (Red flag of junk science – NO science). I’m against temporary diets. You’ll be in your body after 30 days but this dietary pattern probably won’t. And probably shouldn’t.

Edible Rx take-away: Choose one of the top 3 diets that you’re most comfortable with. Take all of 2017 to gradually move in that direction.

You’ve heard it forever: “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Sounds exactly like something you’d hear from picture-perfect TV moms like June Cleaver on “Leave It To Beaver, or Mrs. Cunningham on “Happy Days.”

Well, it’s really true, according to the latest research – and a lot of studies that preceded it. This study involved 698 students, average age was about 7½ years, so primary grade school kids. Just before they were given a standard achievement test, they completed a recall of what they’d eaten for breakfast.

The kids who ate breakfast before taking the test scored significantly higher than those who had not eaten breakfast. One review looked at breakfast eaters among urban minority youth and the conclusions were horrifying:

The prevalence of skipping breakfast was “highly and disproportionately prevalent among urban minority children.”

Breakfast skipping negatively impacted academic achievement.

Was associated with increased absenteeism.

Despite the availability of school breakfast programs, not enough vulnerable children take advantage of them.

But What KIND of Breakfast Works?

Breakfast is a true opportunity for filling the gaps in kids’ diets that probably won’t be filled if they skip breakfast. Here are the food groups of particular concern that most kids’ (and adults’) diets are lacking:

Low-fat/fat free dairy,

Fruits & vegetables,

Whole grains.

Breakfast is an ideal meal for getting all three of the food groups of concern. A simple serving of whole grain cereal, milk, and fruit covers so much nutritional ground. These are foods they need multiple times during the day, and when kids miss breakfast, they don’t eat more of them later to compensate, they just miss out. When they make a habit of skipping breakfast, it’s a lifestyle with a nutritional concern.

The US Dietary Guidelines for Americans points out 4 “nutrients of concern” so named because over half the population is falling short:

Calcium

Vitamin D

Potassium

Fiber

Indeed, at least 60% of kids (up to 90% of teen girls) don’t get enough calcium, yet a simple glass of milk – real milk, not a “milk alternative” – is a top source of three of those 4 nutrients of concern: calcium, potassium, and vitamin D. The fresh fruit and whole grain cereal both have fiber, so you can see how that simple bowl of cereal, fruit and milk adds up to so much. And kids like it! Of course, for older kids, you can do some add-ons, too. Adding some yogurt (Greek yogurt, too) or an egg, or some string cheese, just ups the protein and nutrition further, keeping them full and better able to focus until lunchtime.

Doing School Breakfast Smarter

The above review also called for a universal breakfast program that allows kids to actually have their breakfast in their own classrooms. This is becoming more popular but it’s still in its early stages and needs to be greatly expanded because it has to be one of the best ideas yet about how to give kids breakfast at school and ensure they have it every day. Here’s how it works:

Kids pick up their breakfast in a package as they enter their classroom.

They eat at their seat during the first 10 minutes or so of the school day, while announcements are made.

Remaining trash is collected, the kids continue with class, ready to learn.

Dr. Keith Ayoob

Keith is an Associate Clinical Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City where he has maintained a clinical practice for over 30 years, specializing in obesity, child nutrition, and family dynamics. Much of his work also focuses on motivational counseling.